


By His Word

by delighted



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Developing Relationship, M/M, post-episode S1E8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 19:09:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5677258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delighted/pseuds/delighted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-episode, S1E8.</p>
<p>Steve asks Danny back to his place after the gathering at Meka’s house following the service.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By His Word

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been re-watching the early episodes of season one, and it’s interesting to look back on it, because I think I tend to feel they were so together from the beginning, but it’s not really the case, and I’ve been enjoying watching how they show the development of their relationship.
> 
> One of the key notes in those first several episodes is Danny trying to get Steve to grasp what being a “partner” means. And, usually, he’s typically Danny about it, yelling, scolding, you know. But in episode eight—“Mana’o (Belief)”—the theme is very much “I’m your partner, you have to believe me.” Yet, Danny never actually says it.
> 
> Steve is totally doubting Meka—and Danny—the whole first part of the episode. It’s almost hard to watch. Finally, Danny can’t take it, and storms out of HQ, saying: “If my word is not good enough for you, then I do not know what I’m doing here.” And then, Danny comes out of Halawa to find Steve waiting for him, and he asks Steve if it had been him accused of stealing, what Steve would think, and of course Steve says he wouldn’t believe it, and Danny asks “Why?” and it just clicks for Steve, and he says “Ok, we can move on.” Then, when it still looks like Meka’s name won’t be cleared, and Danny says he’s not done, Steve says “Neither are we, man. We got you.” When they finally figure it out and go to confront Kaleo, the way Steve looks at Danny, it’s like he’s seeing him in a new light (what he’s like, defending his former partner). And then, the beautiful, beautiful moment at the end of the episode, when Steve shows up at Meka’s, and Danny says “I know you didn’t know him,” and Steve says “I know you.” (*Sniffs* and wipes tears away....)
> 
> Anyhow, I just feel like that’s a really important moment for them.... So, I wanted to write something about it.

Danny had really wanted to stay and help Amy clean up, after everyone had left, but she shooed him and the rest of the team out, saying she wanted to leave the mess for a while because it had felt like Meka had been there with them all, and she wanted some time alone with that. Steve had tugged on Danny to get him to drop it, having some sense of what she meant. He thought Danny had seen something in his eyes, because he softened and hugged her and had gone, pliantly, with Steve.

Once they were outside, Steve found himself wishing Danny didn’t have his car, because he really wanted to drive him home. He sighed.

“Yeah, me too,” Danny said, huffing out a taut laugh.

Steve turned to him. “Come on,” he said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Come back to my place. We can have a fire on the beach, drink some beers, and you can tell me about him.”

Danny looked up at him with a slight expression of awe in his sparkling blue eyes, and something inside Steve’s chest shifted.

“Yeah, ok,” Danny replied, looking down at his uniform. “I’ve got a change of clothes in the Camaro.”

“Great, see you there," Steve called, as he headed down the street to his truck.

Steve stopped off to get beer and some snacks, so by the time he pulled up in front of the house, Danny was already there, looking sharp in his uniform, leaning against the hood of the Camaro, and Steve had to stop himself from whistling. He couldn’t keep the smirk off his face, though, and Danny caught it.

“Like the uniform, do you?” He grinned.

“Yeah, it’s not so bad,” Steve smirked, wrapping an arm around him, and pulling him toward the house.

After they changed out of their uniforms and into shorts and tees, Danny grabbed the beers and the bag of snacks while Steve hunted down the things he needed for the fire. Then they headed down towards the sand.

Once they got the fire going, they settled back, opened their beers, and sighed.

“We just hit it off, you know?” Danny started, not waiting for Steve to prompt him, for which he was grateful. “He groused at first, getting stuck with a _haole_ for a partner.” He laughed, fondly. “But we worked really well together. Synced. In tune. You know?” He turned to look at Steve.

“Yeah,” he replied, softly. “Yeah, I know.” He smiled, and he hoped that Danny would think the same of him, but he knew their dynamic was different.

“Meka always knew what I was thinking before I even thought it,” he mused. “Like, he could just read me.” He sighed and took a swig of his beer. “I’d only had that once before, with a partner, back in Jersey. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it.”

Danny looked over at Steve, and he must have had one of his faces on, because Danny looked quizzically at him. “What?” He asked.

Steve ducked his head, shaking it slightly. “I’m not really used to it yet,” he admitted. “The partners thing. In the Navy, it’s more about the team. You’ve got a group of you, and you work together... it’s different from having one person you work so closely with….” He trailed off, unsure where he was going with this. It was a new thought for him, and hearing Danny talk about his other partners, well. He’d grown up knowing his dad’s relationships with his partners, but this was different somehow, and he found himself feeling maybe a little envious.

“Well, that explains it,” Danny laughed, but it wasn’t as bitter as it might have been, and Steve was relieved. “It’s a different level of trust, I guess, when it’s just one person, than when it’s a team.”

“It’s more intimate,” Steve said, in almost a whisper.

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, smiling. “It’s more intimate.” He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes, stretching himself out, feet digging into the sand. “I’ve never really had a team before,” he started. “That’s different too. It’s more like a family....”

Steve nodded. “Exactly. My team is always my _ohana_.” He knew he sounded a bit sad, and he hadn’t meant that, but he’d admit without too much prodding that his Navy family had been his replacement for the family life he’d lacked so much of his life. He thought he could sense Danny hearing his thought, and he wondered if that’s the kind of thing Danny meant about partners reading each other. It was strange to him, this more personal connection. His team, his guys, especially his SEALs, were in his blood, in his gut, in his movements. But never so much in his inner thoughts like he’d felt Danny. He wasn’t sure yet, what the distinction was, or what it meant, but he was beginning to see that it was a very different kind of relationship, and if he was honest, it was more than a little bit frightening.

Danny was smiling at him. “Thank you, for that,” he said, softly. “It’s nice to have family.” And it must have been the fire, because Danny’s cheeks looked a little pink. Steve smiled back.

“Yeah,” he replied. “It’s nice.” He wanted to say thank you back, for letting him in, giving him a chance to achieve that more intimate level of trust like Danny’d had with Meka... but he couldn’t quite manage. Somehow, he thought, Danny could see it in his eyes, though, because he smirked a bit, and nodded in response. They clinked their beers. “To Meka,” Steve said, locking eyes with Danny.

“To partners,” Danny replied, his eyes shimmering just slightly.

Steve smiled warmly at that, felt another slight shift in his chest and thought, _Yeah. I could get used to this_.


End file.
